Dear Readers, my work has been more than a little dysfunctional lately. Questionable leadership decisions, iffy financials, a large round of layoffs.... I am extremely torn about whether I should be looking for the exit.
On the one hand, the company is in at least warm water financially and I don't see how the staffing issues will be resolved. The level of uncertainty, verging on chaos, is high, and the department I want to move into probably will not happen for various reasons.
On the other hand, I have a stellar and realistic boss ("Look out for yourself, but know your work is valued and I'd be sad to see you go"), I work with a whole lot of great people, and I have an enormous amount of freedom and responsibility without much stress. I regularly problem-solve interesting things, get drawn into meetings with higher ups, and overall am pretty satisfied. Also I'm well paid and got a 10% raise last year.
SO, do I stick it out, knowing I don't really NEED a job and we could get by on one income, or do I look really seriously at other jobs, or do I apply to stuff but only if it looks really appealing???
I’d look around but only apply if it looks appealing. That’s a reasonable of risk/reward & effort given what you describe.
ReplyDeleteFrom what you've said here, it sounds like "apply to stuff but only if it looks appealing" or "stick it out" is how you're leaning?
ReplyDeleteI'm torn between that and RUN AWAY. To give an example of the size of the leadership-level problem, we sell rocketships (not really) and we laid off 90% of our rocket scientists and the rest are leaving in a few months. BUT my day to day work is not YET terrible because of the lack of rocket scientists.
DeleteI just recently found your blog and have been meaning to comment on the posts about your in-laws moving nearby but the declining parent topic is still a little raw for me. But for the job, my partner went through something similar, and I suggested he see what was out there but only apply for jobs that interested him. He went through the process, was offered a new job, and decided that he preferred his existing job. I think it really helped him focus on what he likes about his job. He did apply for some that I think he would have changed for, but didn’t get them. I think it’s worth seeing what is out there. Of course I’ve been in the same workplace for 20+ years, so I might not be the best judge. When I’ve considered moving jobs, the ones that I could get relatively easily would have the same drawbacks, so I’ve stuck with what I know.
ReplyDeleteHow much is the stress affecting you personally? I am (as you know) NOT handling my current work stress well but I am also banking on the dysfunction being somewhat temporary (defined as a year to settle down). But we also can't go without my job whereas it sounds like you can.
ReplyDeletePerhaps when the lack of rocket scientists starts to affect your job directly you could ease into an early retirement if you truly don't need your income?
I don't need to work but it smooths a lot of things- I meant more, we can get by, but I don't really want to. I want a VERY comfortable retirement and to be able to help my kids!
DeleteThe other question is a fair one. I'd say a 2-3/10 on stress plus a lot of private complaining on Slack to the rocket scientists' directors. I can stay out of it for a while.... but not forever
I hear that - we could PROBABLY make it without my income, but I won't even run the calculations on that because it won't make me feel better about everything. I also want a comfortable retirement and to make sure the kids have a strong start into adulthood, not hobbled like I was.
DeleteI'm going to hope that it stays below the 5 mark on the stress levels for a really long time.